Securing a trademark, defined as any word, symbol, design, slogan, or logo that represents the goods or services being provided to your customers, is a key component for any company’s long-term health. Whether you’ve purchased an existing trademark or come up with one yourself, a trademark must be protected.
Even after your business has done the research, made all the appropriate trademark applications, and completed the process of securing the rights to your protected trademark, there is still action to be taken and upkeep to do. What kind of work is necessary, you might ask? The important work of brand and trademark protection, of course!
Part of protecting your trademark, and by extension your company, is trademark monitoring.
What is Trademark Monitoring?
Once your trademark is registered, it has to maintain its validity over the life of your business. The validity of your trademark is maintained through its use. You will be required to provide evidence of use to the USPTO for your trademark to successfully maintain your rights. In the U.S., that means that it must meet the requirements of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the USPTO). In Canada, the equivalent organization is called the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO). Both the USPTO and CIPO have certain guidelines that must be followed to maintain a trademark’s validity. Part of that process requires you to monitor your trademark.
One of Trademark Depot’s specialties is trademark monitoring, and for good reason: It’s very important! The experts at Trademark Depot have a combined 20 years of experience in the field, and can make sure that no important details are missed, and that nothing slips through the cracks.
For example, after a trademark application has been filed and accepted, the use of your trademark must be evidenced. In the U.S., once a trademark has been registered for 5 years, you are required to provide the USPTO with evidence of continued use before the 6th year of registration. After 10 years of registration, your trademark will have to be renewed. Trademark Depot will keep track of these important dates for you while you focus on the important work of building your business and satisfying your customers.
Policing the Marketplace
Trademark owners are also responsible to be aware of what’s happening in the trademark marketplace. Specifically, this means you have to be sure that other businesses and individuals don’t infringe on your trademark, and effectively steal the valuable intellectual property or “goodwill” your company has built up.
Allowing for this kind of activity to occur over a long period of time might even result in your losing access to your own trademark, so effective trademark monitoring is a must. Although it may seem unfair, if you fail to police the use of your trademark, another corporate entity could successfully argue that you have lost the rights to that trademark through neglect. Trademark Depot will monitor the marketplace for you, searching the relevant trademark database and providing you with a quarterly report that helps you enforce your rights and keep your filings up to date.
Trademark Monitoring for the Long Haul
A trademark in an important asset, but it is also a responsibility. After registering it properly, you must continue to use it, and you should also prepare for any possible challenge to its registration. The process of trademark monitoring is too important an issue to leave to anyone but the professionals.
Give Trademark Depot a call or send us an email, we offer a no-obligation consultations, with absolutely no fees. We’ll address your problems with the expertise and professionalism your company deserves. Get in touch today!